AWW was appointed by Bouygues Ltd to
refurbish and extend Swanlea Secondary School in Whitechapel, London. The
visual appearance of the new extension has been designed to respect the
critically acclaimed design. The new teaching block is set back from the street
to avoid a visual clash with the existing and uses different external materials
to contrast rather than mimic the original.
The school was oversubscribed by
approximately three times as many pupils as the school was designed for. This
not only caused a shortage of teaching space but meant the canteen was not
suited to current occupancy levels along with a general lack of staff and
service facilities.
The original 1970s design, which
incorporated a glass atrium had been causing severe overheating and cooling
issues. We are addressing these design problems by providing a naturally
ventilated solution to minimise overheating in the summer months, allowing the
glazed atrium area to cool naturally.
We had several consultation sessions
with the staff and students at the school to help us identify the precise
problems with the current building and also what they required from the new development.
Close engagement with the school and educationalists has resulted in less
extensive internal remodelling than was initially envisaged. This has meant
that the school has had greater flexibility in managing the various phasing and
decant requirements during the construction works.
The layout of every room was
discussed and the power and data requirements were analysed carefully. A
typical layout of the teachers wall was developed in conjunction with IT
consultants to ensure a consistent design across the school but could also
allow for the rapid change in ICT which is likely to occur.
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